100 Years Since the End of ‘The War to End All Wars’

 

In villages and towns in many places in Europe, Sunday will have a special importance. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month will mark 100 years since the end of World War I.

That war affected¹ almost all of Europe and many places around the world. It resulted in the collapse² of three European empires and cost tens of millions of lives. The conflict was so large that people at the time could not imagine another war. They called it “The War to End All Wars.”

The area called Le Chêne Tondu is deep in the Argonne Forest. It still signs of the fighting. German soldiers dug long narrow holes there in a last effort against allied³ forces including Americans.

Randy Gaulke has researched the American military history of World War I. He has studied how American forces helped bring an end to the war. He points to many remains⁴ that can be found in the Argonne Forest from that time.

“The Americans would have been coming up from the other side, the 28th Division—the Pennsylvanians, would have been coming up, trying to get a foothold on this plateau.”

On high ground in the area, there is a burial place for German soldiers. The conflict caused a huge loss of life. More than eight-million armed forces alone were killed. However, unlike France, German territory was not damaged in World War I.

William Philpott is a professor of military history at Kings College London. He said Germany did not receive the heavy bombing that it would face in World War II.

The allied powers negotiated several peace treaties after the war, yet they left Europe dangerously unbalanced.

Philpott notes that Europe lost ruling families of three major areas: the Romanovs in Russia, the Hapsburgs in Austria-Hungary and the Hohenzollerns in Germany.

Under the peace treaties, Germany was forced to make huge payments to France, its colonies were taken away and its territory divided. The result brought economic crisis and anger that aided the rise of Adolf Hitler.

Philpott said that when the Nazi⁵ Party came to power in Germany it stopped making payments to France. It also refused to observe disarmament requirements under the Treaty of Versailles which ended World War I.

World War II resulted in an even larger loss of life than in World War I and the destruction of much of Germany’s industrial areas. The country was split into West Germany, which was controlled by the allies, and East Germany, which was controlled by the Soviet⁶ Union.

German historian Markus Klauer said West Germany worked to overcome its problems after the war.

“We had the chance to rebuild everything from scratch. So, in the 1960s and ‘70s, we had the great advantage to have a powerful industry once more."

Philpott said, in time, Germany developed into an important force bringing Europe together. In 1989, the two Germanies united to form Europe’s largest country. The nation also worked closely with France and other nations to develop what would become the European Union.

“The international institutions created since the 1950s which have led to the European Union, have allowed Germany to exercise influence, financial power, economic strength, in a much more benign⁷ way,” he said.

Klauer said the nation learned a great deal from the experiences of conflict.

“We learned the lessons out of these two world wars – that no nation in Europe can stand alone,” he said.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

empire –n. a group of countries or regions that are controlled by one ruler or one government

plateau –n. a large flat area of land that is higher than other areas of land around it

from scratch -expression a point at which nothing has been done yet

advantage –n. something that helps to make something or someone better

allow –v. permit

institution –n. an established organization

benign –adj. not causing harm or damage

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。